I was informed by certain credible persons, that in the mountains of Kapsei, in the kingdom of Kalor, which is in the dominions of the great khan, there grow certain gourds, or pompions, which open when ripe, and a little beast is found within them, resembling a young lamb. I have likewise heard, that there grow certain trees upon the shore of the Irish sea, which carry a fruit like gourds, and that these fall into the sea at certain times, and are changed into birds called Bernacles.

After a residence of three years in Cambalu, I departed from the empire of Kathay, and travelled fifty days to the west, when I arrived in the dominions of Pretegoani579, whose principal city is Cosan. Continuing my journey for many days, I came to the province of Casan, which is well inhabited, and one of the first countries in the world, for abundance of provisions, and commodities of all kinds, especially of chesnuts; and, is so extremely populous, that, on leaving the gates of any one city, we may always have the gates of another within sight. This country is fifty days journey in breadth, and it is above sixty days journey in length. This is one of the twelve great provinces belonging to the great khan.

Farther on, I came into another kingdom belonging to the khan, called Tebek or Thibet, which is, in my opinion, more abundant in bread and wine than any other country in the world. The inhabitants mostly dwell in tents of black felt, The principal city is surrounded by beautiful walls, built of large white and black stones, disposed chequerwise; and all the highways of the country are well paved. In this country, from certain religious notions, no one dares shed the blood of a man, or of any beast. The Abassi, who is their Pope, dwells in the city already mentioned, being the head or prince of all the idolaters, on whom he bestows gifts; just as our Pope of Rome considers himself to be the head of all the Christians. The women of this country wear a prodigious number of ornaments, and they have two long teeth like the tusks of a boar. When any man dies in this country, his son assembles all the priests and musicians that he can procure, to do honour to his father, whose body he causes to be carried out into the fields, accompanied by all the kindred, friends, and neighbours of the family. Then the priests, with great solemnity, cut off the head of the deceased, which they give to his son; after which, they divide the whole body into small pieces, which they leave strewed about the place; and then the whole company return home in solemn procession, accompanied with prayers, the son bearing his fathers head. On their departure from the field, the vultures of the country, accustomed to similar banquets, come down from the mountains, and carry off all the remains of the deceased person; who is thereupon pronounced holy, because the angels of God, as they say, have carried him to paradise. When the procession returns to the dwelling of the deceased, the son boils the head of his father, and eats the flesh, converting the skull into a drinking cup, out of which he, and all his family, and kindred, carouse with much, mirth and solemnity, in remembrance of his father. This nation has many other vile and abominable customs, which I refrain from describing, because no one would believe them unseen.

While in the province of Mangi, or Southern China, I passed by the palace of a rich man, who is continually attended upon by fifty young virgins, who feed him at every meal as a bird feeds her young; and all the time they are so employed, they sing to him most sweetly. The revenues of this man are thirty toman of tagars of rice, each toman being 10,000 tagars, and one tagar is the burthen of an ass. His palace is two miles in circuit, and is paved with alternate plates of gold and silver. Near the wall of his palace, there is an artificial mound of gold and silver, having turrets and steeples, and other magnificent ornaments, contrived for the solace and recreation of this great man.580 I was further informed, that there are four such great men in the kingdom of Mangi. It is reckoned a great mark of dignity, among the great men of this country, to have their nails of great length; more especially their thumb nails, which are sometimes of sufficient length to be wrapped round the hand. The beauty, and even the rank of their women is supposed to consist in the smallness of their feet; for which reason, mothers bind up the feet of their daughters when young, to prevent them from growing large.

Proceeding on my travels towards the south, I arrived at a certain pleasant and fertile country, called Melistorte581, in which dwells a certain aged person called the Old Man of the Mountain. This person had surrounded two mountains by a high wall, within which he had the fairest gardens, and finest fountains in the world, inhabited by great numbers of most beautiful virgins. It was likewise supplied with fine horses, and every article that could contribute to luxury and delightful solace; on which account it was called by the people of the country the terrestrial paradise. Into this delightful residence, the old man used to entice all the young and valiant men he could procure, where they were initiated into all the delights of the earthly paradise, in which milk and wine flowed in abundance, through certain hidden conduits. When desirous of assassinating any prince or nobleman, who had offended him, the old man would order the governor of his paradise to entice into that place, some acquaintance or servant of the prince or baron whom he wished to slay. Allowing this person to take a full taste of the delights of the place, he was cast into a deep sleep by means of a strong potion, in which state he was removed from paradise. On recovering from his sleep, and finding himself excluded from the pleasures of paradise, he was brought before the old man, whom he entreated to restore him to the place from whence he had been taken. He was then told, that, if he would slay such or such a person, he should not only be permitted to return into paradise, but should remain there forever. By these means the old man used to get all those murdered, against whom he had conceived any displeasure; on which account all the kings and princes of the east stood in awe of him, and paid him tribute.

When the Tartars had subdued a large portion of the earth, they came into the country of the old man, and took from him his paradise. Being greatly incensed at this, he sent out many of his resolute and desperate dependents, by whom numbers of the Tartar nobles were slain. Upon this, the Tartars besieged the city of the old man of the mountain; and, making him prisoner, they put him to a cruel and ignominious death.

In that place582, the friars have the special gift, that, through the power of the name of Jesus Christ, and of his precious blood, which was shed on the cross for the remission of our sins, they speedily expel devils from those who are possessed. And as there are many possessed persons in those parts, they are brought bound, from the distance of ten days journey all around, to the friars; and being dispossessed of the unclean spirits, they immediately believe in Christ, who hath delivered them, and are baptized in his name, delivering up to the friars all their idols, and the idols of their cattle, which are usually made of felt, or of womens hair. Then the friars kindle a great fire in some public place, into which they cast the idols before all the people. At the first, the idols used to come out of the fire; but the friars, having sprinkled the fire with holy water, threw in the idols again, where they were consumed to ashes; and the devils fled away in the likeness of black smoke, when a noise was heard in the air, crying out aloud, "Behold how I am expelled from my habitation!" By these means, the friars have baptized great multitudes; but they mostly return soon again to their idols, on which account, the friars have continually to abide among them, to exhort and instruct them in the faith.